Home News Thursday News, June 7th

Thursday News, June 7th

City Council Hears Facility Update On Le Mars Arts Center

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars City Council heard a facility update regarding the Le Mars Arts Center from executive director, Judy Marieunau during its Tuesday meeting. Marieunau says several items are needing to be updated.

Marieunau also noted a need for an electrical upgrade for the Arts Center.

Marieunau requested the city appropriate $20,000 for the capital upgrade. The city council had originally budgeted $20,000 to be allocated to the Le Mars Arts Center for various construction upgrades, however, Assistant City Administrator Jason Vacera reminded the council that in order to balance the city’s fiscal year financial budget, that $20,000 ear-marked for the Arts
Center was taken off the table. One other item the Arts Center director identified as an additional need is a replacement of the front door.

The Le Mars Arts Center director informed the city council she has applied for several matching grants, and believes she will be successful to secure some additional funding from various grants.

 

 

“Then Feed Just One” Sends Meals To Volcano Damaged Guatemala

(Le Mars) –– Packaged meals originally from Le Mars are making their way to Guatemala after a volcano erupted earlier in the week, causing several people to be killed and hundreds of others who have lost their homes. The “Then Feed Just One” organization has shipped nearly 17,000 packaged meals from
Honduras to the neighboring Central American nation. Dick Sievert explains:

Sievert says the meals were transported from Honduras to Guatemala by way ofthe embassy.

The director of the “Then Feed Just One” program says in addition to foodbeing sent to the Volcano damaged area, blankets, shoes, and waterpurification kits were also sent as part of the relief effort.

Sievert says money is also being collected to be sent to the people of Guatemala. Sievert says another shipment of food, that was packaged in early May, is currently on route to Honduras, in order to re-stock the depleted
inventories.

Those packaged meals contain rice, dried vegetables, vitamins and minerals.Each packaged meal is capable of feeding up to six people.

 

 

Donagal Insurance Employee Named Chamber’s “Employee of the Month.”

(Le Mars) — A Donegal Insurance employee is the latest to be awarded as a Chamber of Commerce Employee of the Month. Earlier this morning, (Thursday), Connie Arnold was presented a plaque acknowledging the honor. The nomination was submitted by the management and staff of Donegal Insurance Group. Back on November 30th of 1970, Connie Arnold began her career at then Le Mars Mutual Insurance Company typing personal lines policies at the salary of $1.65 an hour. She had worked for a month in the Personal Lines Department before transferring to the Claims Department doing transcription. She went into the
area of claims entry, typing up claim labels and claim drafts, and then running those drafts through the old Paymaster. All of this was originally done on manual typewriters. Connie started working for the company when they operated from the building on Central Avenue. She helped move into the current facility in 1986. She remained in the Claims Department for the balance of her career, supervising the Claims Processing Unit for the past 17 years. Over the past 47 plus years, Connie Arnold has seen many changes in the technology that is utilized in the company. She believes this has probably posed the biggest challenge in her career. Going from punch cards and manual typewriters to the current computers and systems in place has been a learning and ever changing experience throughout the years. Connie Arnold
is about to enter retirement. We all congratulate Connie on this milestone in her career, and we thank her for her dedication to her job and the Company. Our congratulations go to Connie Arnold of the Donegal Insurance Group for being named the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce June Employee of the Month.

 

 

 

Sac County Man Pleas Guilty To Growing Marijuana

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa man has pleaded guilty in another marijuana case.
35-year-old Keegan Cross entered the plea Wednesday in Sac County District Court. The charge: manufacturing a
controlled substance. His sentencing is scheduled for July 18.
Cross and his mother, 58-year-old Glenda Turnquist, were arrested in February after Sac County deputies found marijuana plants and equipment used for growing them in the Schaller home Turnquist and Cross shared. She’s pleaded not guilty, and her trial is scheduled to begin July 17.
The two were given probation after pleading guilty in an earlier case.  They were arrested in March 2017 after deputies found a similar growing operation and 80 marijuana plants in the same house.

 

 

Iowa Finance Authority Looking At Leasing Different Facility

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Finance Authority is reviewing a decision to lease new office space.
The agency’s board of directors Wednesday requested an external review of a decision to spend $17 million on new leased space rather than rehabilitate its current space.
The Iowa Executive Council approved a long-term lease in February at the request of authority director Dave Jamison, who Gov. Kim Reynolds fired in March after allegations of sexual harassment.
It was later discovered the five-member council wasn’t told
renovating the existing space could save $6 million. The landlord told the
agency a buyout of the lease would cost $5.75 million.
A Reynolds spokeswoman says whether to continue the relocation is part of the review. An agency spokeswoman says the review is expected to take about a week.

 

 

Man Arrested After Leaving Two Sons In Van Overnight

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – An Omaha father has been arrested, accused of leaving his two young sons in a van overnight while he got drunk in a bar and left with a
woman.
Omaha police say they were called early Saturday morning about a van left running in the Benson Library parking lot. Arriving officers found two boys, ages 4 and 5, and a dog in the van.
Police say their father, 28-year-old Charles Bibbs, had left them there around midnight Friday to go to a bar. Bibbs told police he planned to be at the bar for a couple of hours, but forgot about the boys and spent the night with a woman he met. A strong thunderstorm swept the area while the boys were alone in the van. Police say they were cold and hungry, but otherwise
unharmed.
Just hours before leaving the boys, Bibbs had been released from prison for a fourth-offense drunken driving conviction.
He is being held on $75,000 bail on two counts of felony child abuse.